Louella Givens, the embattled incumbent in this year's contest to represent New Orleans on the state school board, used a hastily organized news conference Thursday to lash out at her political enemies. She accused her challenger of having only recently registered to vote and labeled as racist attack fliers sent out by a Baton Rouge political action committee.

View full sizeMichael DeMocker, The Times-PicayuneLouella Givens, a local attorney running for her third term on the state board of education, hugs a supporter after reaffirming her commitment to stay in the race on the steps of City Hall on Thursday.

Givens, an African-American attorney who has served on the board for nearly eight years, also accused the committee, known as the Alliance for Better Classrooms, or ABC, of spreading a rumor that she had dropped out of the race.

"They have sent out racist and divisive fliers to white Republicans" in New Orleans, Givens said, referring to ABC-financed direct-mail leaflets that went out about a week before the first round of voting. "They are encouraging them to think that I am one of the worst people that walk the face of the Earth, and I really resent that."

The event was a clear attempt by Givens to gain a bigger platform on which to punch back after a number of setbacks left her trailing in last month's primary. Givens has lagged in raising cash and picking up endorsements. And revelations of a February drunk-driving arrest and an IRS lien on her home for unpaid taxes hit just weeks before the primary vote.

Looking to shift attention to her opponent, the local Teach for America leader Kira Orange Jones, Givens said Thursday, "I resent someone who only registered to vote in August of 2011 telling me that I'm not qualified to serve you."

Orange Jones acknowledged that she had only registered in Orleans Parish recently, having been previously registered in New York. But she criticized Givens for holding a press conference without having much to announce. "It seems sad to me that she would hold a press conference to talk about the fact that she is still in the race when she's an eight-year incumbent," Orange Jones said.

The two will head into a runoff on Nov. 19.

Calling charges of racism "absurd," ABC spokesman Jay Connaughton said, "We're supporting an African-American candidate -- two, in fact -- for the board. The demand for school reform spans all races, all economic brackets." Connaughton also denied that the group has done any specific targeting of white or Republican voters.

The group is supporting both Orange Jones and Carolyn Hill, a social worker running for a seat in East Baton Rouge. Both are African-American Democrats.

Givens did not elaborate on why she thought the group's fliers were racist, nor did she provide copies of them to the assembled media.

The news conference Thursday followed a surprise appearance by Givens at a City Council meeting in the morning, where she joined Recovery School District Superintendent John White and Deputy Superintendent Patrick Dobard. The two were scheduled to present the district's 12-point strategic plan.

Earlier Thursday, Givens issued a cryptic news release promising an announcement about the future of her candidacy, fueling wide speculation that she was thinking about dropping out of the race.